Love Sick
by Soren Shinigami
Summary: Chelsea gets sick on the job, who's going to help care for her ranch? Enter Vaughn, the antisocial cowboy. He agrees to help Chelsea in her time of need but what are these feelings he's having? Watch how their love blooms while Chelsea's bedridden. My first game fanfic, I hope you enjoy!
1. Sick

**Hey everyone! I haven't posted my other stories because lately I got into Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands. My friend let me borrow her game and I got terrible hooked on it. I was so hooked on it that I decided to write this story. It took me a while to plan it out and I think I did a good job. And with that note, please enjoy!**

**Written by Soren Shinigami. I do not own Harvest Moon Sunshine Islands**

Love Sick

Something wasn't right. She's usually always in here at this time. I went to check my watch but I stopped myself. What was I doing? Why was I so worried? She's probably running late with her chores. I waited for another two hours. Mirabelle looked at the clock. "She's late. She's usually here early to buy some food for her animals." "Mmm" I said in acknowledgement. Chelsea was very late. I usually went to the café at this time but I stayed here longer waiting for her. She's always been a pest but I guess I got so used to her being nearby whenever I was here. When she first started here, she started trying being everyone's friend, including me. She even gave me presents.

I started pacing around, unsure of why I was so anxious to see her. I never like being around people and yet…

"Vaughn, will you do me a favor and check on her? I'm starting to worry about her. She's probably still working but will you at least put my mind at ease?" Mirabelle kindly asked me. "…yeah sure" I grumbled and left the store. I never went to visit her in her ranch before so I was a little nervous. What happens if she was just working overtime? After all, there were a few festivals she was preparing for. I arrived to her ranch and I looked around. The sun was starting to set but I didn't see her around. What if she was in town visiting other townsfolk before seeing me? …I mean…before coming into Mirabelle's shop.

I went up to her house. Maybe she went to bed early? I went up to the door, "Chelsea? Hello? Are you in there?" I knocked on it but the moment my hand made contact, the door swung open. I started to worry, did something happen to her? I looked inside her home. It was pretty big but it looked very lonely. There was a big kitchen and a table. Her tool box was full of her tools. She wasn't working, her tools were all here. I went further inside. There was a desk with all her financial records and notes. Her diary was there too, but I didn't dare peek. At the back of her home was a small bed next to her calendar.

Her bed was neatly made and hasn't been used today. I left her house, closing the door behind me. I decided to check her stables. I went to the first stable house where she kept her dog, Floppy, her horse BooBoo, and her cat, Paws. No sign of Chelsea. I went to her chicken coop. Her two chickens, Pollo and Chichi were sleeping on some hay. I went the barn where her cow, Mr. Moo (when she ordered the cow, she thought she was getting a bull but they gave her a cow instead and the name just stuck) and her sheep, Fluffy were eating on some fodder that was in their food dispenser. I noticed that all her animals were fed but there was still no sign of Chelsea.

I went to her farming grounds where she planted her crops. I hated vegetables so I tried avoiding going there but I guess I had no choice. I walked to her crops and I had to walk carefully or else I would trip on them. There were lots of crops and rocks and weeds sticking out of the ground. I tripped on something heavy and I fell. I looked back at what I tripped over and I froze.

The girl I was looking all over for was lying on the ground. I went closer to her and I noticed her face was flushed and she was breathing heavily. I put my hand to her forehead. She was burning up. Without thinking, I picked her up bridal style and went inside her house. I carefully laid her down on her bed and tucker her in between the sheets. I went to the phone and called Dr. Trent.

He came by an hour later to check on Chelsea. I paced around, waiting for him to finish his examination. After waiting for what felt like hours, he came over to me. "Well, she has a terrible case of the flu." I started worrying but he must have noticed the worry in my eyes because he said, "Now don't panic, it's nothing a little medicine and rest can't fix." He handed me some pills, "Make sure she takes these once every six hours and I would prefer if she didn't get out of bed for about a week. She probably got the fever from overworking." "Alright, thanks doc." "No problem, call me if there are any more problems." And with that, he left. Chelsea was asleep on the bed. I looked down at the pills that were in my hand. I needed to talk to Mirabelle. I decided to leave Chelsea alone for a bit and I went to the pet store.

I stepped in the store and Mirabelle quickly walked up to me. "What's happened? What took you so long? Is she alright?" I quickly cut her off to keep myself from being overwhelmed by her frantic questions. "Yeah, she's alright. It took me a while to find her but when I did, she was passed out on the ground. She's bedridden with the flu." "But that means she won't be able to work!" that started to worry her. Chelsea was the provider of most of the food any money on the island. If it wasn't for her, the island wouldn't be as successful and productive. She made this place into a peaceful, stable home for everyone. Now that she was sick, her work would be wreaked. Her animals needed to be fed and cared for and her crops needed to be watered. Without her, her plants would die and her animals would starve. "…what a tragedy…" Mirabelle commented. Her face suddenly lit up, "Wait! If we can find a caretaker for her farm, everything will be alright! All we need is someone to help her! But who? Taro is too old, Elliot recently got married to Julia so they're away on honeymoon. Denny went on a fishing trip with Lanna, Gannon, Chen and I need to manage our stores…" She started listing everyone on the island. Everyone here had duties to do and some people were away for a vacation.

I thought of Chelsea, who would help her? She works so hard for everyone and now she's sick. Yet no one noticed her disappearance all day. They probably thought she was overworking or went to bed early. It's been known to happen every now and then but even then, she always went to town to buy something or say a few "hellos" to the townsfolk. Was I the only one who noticed? Tomorrow was Tuesday, I would still be able to go over to her place and help with her chores but after that, I have to leave. If only I didn't have work… "I'll be right back" I told Mirabelle who was still rambling on about who wouldn't be able to help Chelsea and listed many reasons why.

I left the shop and went to the diner. There was a telephone I could use there. I quickly dialed my job at the ranch and my coworker, Benny picked up. "Hello?" "Hey Ben, is the boss there?" "Boss ain't here, what'd ya need?" "I need a week off." "What? Why?" "…I'm not feeling too well, doc says I gotta rest." "…well…if the doc says so go ahead." And with that I hung up. I don't know why I couldn't tell him about Chelsea but as long as I got the week off, I don't mind telling a small lie.

I went back to Mirabelle's shop. She was still rambling. "Mirabelle, I'll stay and help Chelsea." "You will?! That's great!" I sighed and left. I went back to Chelsea's place. She was still sleeping on the bed where I left her. I sat down on the floor beside her bed and watched breathe slowly. I was going to stay beside her and make sure she gets back on her feet. Without her, even I can't get some work done. It was getting late and my eyes started to close. I sat back against the wall, facing her and I fell asleep.


	2. Starting Work

**Hello again! When I played the game, I actually named my cow Mr. Moo...even though it was a girl. I don't know why i didn't realize that...oh well XD Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy!**

**Written by Soren Shinigami. I do not own Harvest Moon Sunshine Islands.**

Love sick

The next morning I woke up early and checked her temperature. She hasn't had a pill yet since she was still asleep. I decided to get her work done early to get it out of the way so I can stay with her.

I started with her animals. I fed Floppy, BooBoo, Paws, Pollo, Chichi, Mr. Moo and Fluffy. After that, I went back to her house to get her watering can. I had to water her crops. I hated vegetables but I had to help her out. After watering her plants I went back to her house to check on her. It was now almost 6 am. I went to her kitchen and tried to find something to make her.

I looked in her refrigerator, I found some milk, some vegetables, rice, and lots bowls of porridge. I sighed, she doesn't eat properly. In fact, I don't think she eats enough. I quickly went to Chen's shop to buy some ingredients so I could make her something. When I went back, I started cooking some soup for her. Since she kept animals, she didn't like to eat meat so I just made her a soup with vegetables. I heard the sheets rustle and I looked over at her. Her eyes fluttered open and I quickly went over to her.

"Chelsea, are you alright?" "Yeah" Her face was still flushed and I put a hand on her forehead, which cause her face to flush even more. "You're fever still hasn't went down, Dr. Trent told me to give you these every six hours." I handed her a small pill. "…Dr. Trent was here?" "Yeah, I…called him when I found you passed out in the field." "Oh…thanks" she took the pill and swallowed it. "I'm making you some soup, so wait a little bit longer" "Ok, thanks" I went back to the kitchen. After ten minutes, the soup was ready. I got a bowl and served some soup for her. I went back to her bed but she was trying to get up. "No, stay in bed, you need rest" "But I have chores to do. My animals need to be fed and I have to water my crops" "Don't worry, I'll take care of it, you need rest." She stayed silent then lied back down. I handed her the bowl of soup and started eating it. I turned away quickly before she noticed I was grinning like an idiot.

"I already took care of the animals and I watered your plants, anything else I need to do?" "Yeah, I was planning to give some friends some gifts today, they're in my cabinet, can you hand them out?" I sighed, I hated people but I agreed. I opened the cabinet and I noticed several boxes with labels. Denny, Elliot, Julia, Pierre, Lanna, and Natalie. They were her best friends and she always loved hanging out with them. I took the presents and went to them. Today, they were planning to fish so they would be over at Denny's.

I went over to them and they were pretty surprised to see me there. "Hey Vaughn, what are you doing here?" Denny asked. "…Chelsea's sick so I'm helping her out." "Hey, the cowboy actually has a heart" Natalie remarked. "Don't be mean Natalie, I think it's very kind of you to help Chelsea." Julia said. "…yeah...anyways, she told me she had some gifts to give you" I gave them the boxes. They were some food for their lunch, and some fresh bait. She really cared about her friends.

They smiled, "Tell Chelsea we said 'thanks'! We'll visit afterwards and show her out catch!" Pierre said. I tipped my hat and left. As I left, I heard them whispering something but I couldn't hear and I didn't care enough to listen to what they were saying.

I went back to Chelsea's place and she was now asleep. It was now noon, I was getting hungry but I didn't want to leave. If she woke up, I needed to be here for her. She woke up and looked at me, "Vaughn? You're back?" "Yeah, everyone wanted me to give you their thanks" She smiled, "That's good, what time is it?" "Noon" "Did you get your present?" "…there was something for me?" "Yeah, it's in the refrigerator" I looked in the refrigerator and there was the usual food there. "I don't see anything" She smiled, "the bowl of porridge, you can have them, they're for you anyway. I'm sorry I wasn't there yesterday to give you your lunch." I blushed "…thanks, that's very thoughtful of you." I took out a bowl and started to eat. I really loved her, she was so thoughtful.

The next day, I fed her animals and watered her crops early in the morning. When I finished, it was 10 am. I went back to her house to check up on her. She was awake and looking at her calendar. "What's wrong?" "…oh…ummm…the cow festival is in five days…I'll miss it." I looked at her, but I could tell that she wasn't focused on the cow festival, she was hiding something. "I'll make sure Mr. Moo participates in the festival, don't worry. You worked hard for it." She looked at me, "thank you, she'll be happy" I smiled and I went to the kitchen. "It's time for your pill, hold up, I'll make you some breakfast and then you can take your pill." "…thanks…"

I cooked and she stayed silent for a while. Finally she spoke what was on her mind. "Who's going to help me tomorrow?" "What?" "You're going to work tomorrow, it's Wednesday and you always leave for work" "…about that…I'm taking some days off to help you out" "What? Why? You have a job and you always say that money gets tight!" "Well it's my choice! I don't need anyone else telling me what to do! If I want to stay here helping my friend then why can't I?!" I blushed when I realized what I said and she blushed as well. She then smiled, "I'm glad you think of me as a friend…and I'm glad you're helping me" I smiled, "No problem"


	3. A little fight

**Hello! Chapter 3 is here! I have nothing to say at the moment so...I hope you enjoy!**

**Written by Soren Shinigami. I do not own Harvest Moon Sunshine Islands.**

Love Sick

Two days later continued the same routine: I would wake up early, feed her animals, water her crops and cook some breakfast for her. At lunch, I ate the porridge she had prepared for me. I made sure she took her pill every six hours. On the fifth day, her fever went down immensely the past few days and she was able to get out of bed for a little. She still couldn't work because she was still too weak to do any work. There was only one bowl of porridge left in her refrigerator. I felt bad, I ate all her porridge during my time here.

I went to help her animals, I fed them, petted them and praised them. As I was going to water her crops Mirabelle went to the ranch. At first I was confused on why she was here but I then remembered: tomorrow is the cow festival. I went up to her before she could enter Chelsea's home. "What do you want?" "The cow festival is tomorrow, I was wondering if Chelsea would participate and enter her cow" "…yeah, she's entering, I took good care of her cow" "That's great! By the way, how is she?" "She's fine, she's getting better so she should be able to work again soon" "Great!" We went to get her incorrectly named cow so Mirabelle could take it to the festival. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow!" she waved and left. I sighed, Chelsea loved that cow. I knew how she felt every time it had to go. She raised that cow since it was a baby, and even though she thought she was getting a male, she loved the little cow with a masculine name. She watched it grow and that cow was her favorite animal.

I finished watering her crops then I went back to her house to tell her that I signed up her cow for the festival. I stopped when I saw her, she was standing up and cooking in the kitchen. I saw some bags of rice from Chen's shop, they weren't in the refrigerator before…did she go buy them? "Where did you get those?" I pointed to the bags of rice. She turned around, not expecting to see me there. "Oh…I…umm…" "You left the house to get these didn't you?" "Yes but-" "I told you not to get out of bed, you may be getting better but you need to recover fully" "I'm fine, it was just a little trip to Chen's shop! I didn't stay long!" "Everyone there went to talk to you didn't they?" "…well…yeah but…" "So you were there longer. You shouldn't get out of bed, you're not well enough" "I'm fine!" "No you're not, why would you leave to get some rice?" "Well…you were running out of porridge so I thought that I would go to town to make some more for you…" she blushed. "That doesn't matter if I run out of food, I can just go to Nick's diner to get something to eat, I don't need you cooking for me or worrying if I eat or not. I don't need you to worry about me." I saw a few tears run down her cheeks. "…I'm sorry…I was just trying to help" She went back to bed and she lied down facing the wall with her back towards me. Damn, now I felt bad. She was just trying to help me out and I yelled at her for it.

I left her house and went to town. I really felt bad. I was never good at talking to people and now because of that, I made Chelsea cry. If only I could say how I really felt. I thought of her more than a friend. She was so nice to me before and the only thing she wanted was to help me. I felt bad, how I was going to make up for it? I went to Mirabelle's shop. It calmed me down to be around the animals. Mirabelle went up to me the moment I stepped into the shop, "Oh Vaughn! Guess what? A cow here had given birth to a cute little calf! She's very healthy and she's very sweet!" A calf huh? Chelsea loves cows… "How much is she?" I asked "You want to buy her?" Mirabelle asked me. "Yeah, how much is she?" I asked again. "Is this for Chelsea?" I didn't respond and I pulled my hat down to try and cover my expression. But alas, it betrayed me and she saw the blush on my cheeks. She smiled and said, "Well, for you, there's no charge. You can take the little sweetheart" "Really?" She nodded and I smiled. I walked to the ranch with the baby cow to show Chelsea.

When I arrived, I knocked on the door. "Who is it?" I heard a soft voice answer. "It's me, Vaughn, will you please come out? I have something for you" I heard the rusting of sheets and the sound of her footsteps approaching the door. The door opened and she stepped out. She looked at me then noticed the baby cow. She smiled, "she's so cute!" "This is for you, I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier, it was wrong of me. You were worried about me and I yelled at you for it. I'm sorry." She threw her arms around me, "It's ok Vaughn, I was wrong too, I shouldn't have left the house in my condition" I smiled and held her close to me. My heart pounded in my chest. It felt so right to have her in my arms and I didn't want to let go.

But alas, all good things must come to an end and we parted, our faces were flushed. We turned our attention to the calf and we had to give it a name. "What should her name be?" I asked. "Hmm, I'm not sure" "Whatever you do, don't give it a name like 'Mr. Moo'" She smiled, "I didn't know I was getting a cow! They told me it was a bull!" She laughed. I started laughing with her. "Well what should we name her?" I wiped a tear from my eye, I haven't laughed like that in a long time. "What about…Lucy?" It was different than the names of her previous animals but it seemed to fit the little calf. I smiled, "Lucy, that's perfect. Little Lucy" She smiled, and I blushed. It as if we were married and we had a child. The thought of it made me blush and my heart fluttered.

We put Lucy in the barn and she fell asleep on Fluffy. Fluffy looked at the little calf and let Lucy sleep on her wool. We smiled and went back to the house. "Tomorrow's the cow festival, I hope Mr. Moo wins." I said. "Yeah, I can't wait for her to meet her new sister!" She smiled. It was late, and she went back to bed. I went back to sleep against the wall. "…hey Vaughn?" "Hmm?" "Aren't you uncomfortable sleeping there?" "…a little but it's ok." There was a moment of silence before she spoke up again. "Do…do you want to sleep with me?" My face went red, "W-what?" Her face was red as well, "I mean, the bed is more comfortable than the floor and you might get sick sleeping down there." "…I don't want to make you uncomfortable." "You won't…so…please?"

I was silent for a bit but I stood up and walked over to her bed. She scooted over to give me some room to get in. I sat at the edge of the bed and I took off my boots and placed my hat on the bedpost. I took off my vest and slipped under the sheets with her. I could tell she was nervous but she snuggled herself close to me. My face became flushed and I wrapped my arms around her. I was happy to have her so close to me. We stayed like that throughout the night, sleeping in each other's arms.


	4. The Cow Festival

**The last chapter is here :'( It was fun to write this but all good things must have an ending. I love Vaughn and Chelsea. When I played, we actually got married and we now have a daughter! (I named her Staz XD ) We are now living happily in the ranch with all our animals. Being married in video games is great isn't it? XD With that, I hope you enjoy!**

**Written by Soren Shinigami. I do not own Harvest Moon Sunshine Islands.**

Love Sick

In the morning, I rushed through her chores, feeding the animals, watering the crops, and cooking breakfast. The cow festival was at 10 am, it was now 8 am. I get everything done before the festival. Chelsea woke up and rubbed her eyes. "Today's the cow festival" she said. "Yeah, are you well enough to go?" "Yeah, I think so" I took off my bandana and gave it to her. "Here, you can wear this around your neck. It's not much but at least you'll keep your neck warm." She smiled and put my bandana around her neck. "Thank you" she kissed my cheek. I blushed, "You're welcome. I prepared some breakfast for you, you should eat." "Ok" I gave her her pill and I took out a bowl of porridge she cooked for me and I joined her for breakfast.

After breakfast we went over to Meadow Island where the festival was taking place. All her friends were there and she left me to talk to them before the festival started. I watched her from a distance, laughing and talking to her buddies. Mirabelle then silenced everyone announcing that the festival was about to begin. She brought out the cows, each from different farms and Mr. Moo was among them, standing happily when she saw Chelsea was watching. Her cow loved Chelsea, it was as if she was her mother and she was determined to win the contest for her. I smiled, Chelsea took really good care of her animals.

Finally after examining all the cows, the winner was to be announced. Mirabelle stood in front of the cows, everyone was eager to hear the name of the victor. "And the winner of this cow festival is… Mr. Moo!" Chelsea smiled and hugged her cow. Her cow seemed to smile and her friends cheered. She worked hard for this and it clearly showed. Her cow got a ribbon and we headed home. "Congrats" I told her as we walked. "Thanks, but I couldn't have done it without you." "What do you mean?" "If you weren't here to help me, I couldn't have taken care of Mr. Moo and she wouldn't have won. You fed her and praised her for me and I thank you for that" I smiled and I held her hand. She blushed but she smiled and we walked happily back home.

When we got back we got ready for bed. I slept in her bed again holding her close to me and keeping her warm.

Finally, it was the end of the week and she was back to her usual self. She was ready to get back to work and it was time for me to leave. This morning she was feeding her animals and I watered her plants. I sighed, I really didn't want to leave her side but I had to get back to work. I missed a whole week's worth of work. That afternoon at lunch, I told her I would leave tomorrow. She was pretty sad to hear that I was leaving and truthfully, it hurt me to see her like that but I couldn't stay. "…I guess…now that I'm better, you have no reason to stay here…thanks for your help" she said. "…you're welcome" After lunch I got my things and I left. It was now Wednesday and I had to go on the boat to go back to the mainland. I needed to work after all…but I didn't want to leave Chelsea.

I went to Chen's shop and saw that he was now selling something that got me thinking. I bought it and I held it in my hand. Was I really thinking about doing this? I didn't want to leave her…but this was life-changing. I was about to get on the boat when I heard a familiar voice call my name, "Vaughn!" Chelsea was running towards me. She came up to me and was panting heavily, she just got better and she was in no condition to do anything extreme. "What are you doing here? You shouldn't be running like that. It's late you should be resting." I was fawning over her and she got directly to the point on why she was here. She didn't speak but she handed me a small blue feather. I gasped. It was a sign of marriage here on the island. It was something only lovers can give each other. I blushed and looked at the feather in my hand. I had planned to give her one as well. I took her feather and I gave her mine. I hugged her and I said, "Why would you want to marry a poor cowboy like me?" She giggled and said, "Because I deeply care about that cowboy and I know he cares about me too. While you were with me this past week, I felt complete and it felt right to have you around. I want you to stay" "I felt the same Chelsea, I want to be with you and care for the ranch with you. If you're ever sick again, I want to stay by your side until you're better. I…I love you, Chelsea" She started crying tears of joy, "I love you too, Vaughn" I hugged her tight. I missed the boat to the mainland but I didn't care. I was going to be with Chelsea, who I loved and who returned my love.

We walked home hand in hand. We planned to wed next week, by that time, all the preparations would be complete. From now on, I would be staying with her and I knew we would be very happy together.

**A/N: Again, I'm sorry for not posting any of my other stories but I got distracted with this game that I couldn't find any inspiration for A Farm of Yaoi or Demons and Vampires. But I promise I will update soon. Thanks for reading this and I hoped you enjoyed it! ^^**


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